Finding Your Massage Magic! You worry about the competition. But you don't have to…

Another massage therapist starts up in your area, or their website appears in the same search results as yours. And all at once you get that awful feeling of, "am I going to lose clients to someone cheaper, newer, or with better qualifications?"

It's completely normal to feel like this. And it's also, totally unnecessary!

You don't have to compete at all.

When you're looking around and seeing lots of massage therapists offering similar things, it's very easy to feel like you're competing for the same pool of clients.

And when it feels like that, every new therapist can seem like a threat. Someone who could take clients away from you. It's a horrible feeling. And it often leads to lowering your prices… or trying to keep up with what everyone else is doing.

But you know what? You don't actually have to compete at all!

That feeling of competition usually comes from the fact that, from the outside, a lot of massage therapists look quite similar. They all offer similar massage treatments and they describe them in the same way with similar wording.

So of course potential clients compare!

And when they compare, they're far more likely to choose based on price, location, or whoever they happen to come across first - which is exactly what creates the feeling of competition in the first place.

So instead of trying to win that game… You step out of it.

Meaning - you describe your work in a way that makes it the same as everyone else. Instead, you need to get clear on what makes you different. And then describe that in your massage marketing.

When you do that, you're no longer just one of several options. And that's where the idea of competition starts to fall away.

Being out of the game makes the idea of competition irrelevant. There literally IS no competition! When you put yourself in your own category. No one can compete with you because you have a special something that no one else has. Something unique to you, that no one else could ever copy.

So we need to find that special something. Do you know what yours is? How would you describe what makes you different? Think about what's actually copyable about your massage treatments for a second. The techniques you use? Teachable. The type of work you do - deep tissue massage, relaxation, whatever it is? All teachable. Even if you've done extra qualifications or learned something quite specific, the knowledge itself isn't locked inside you. Someone else could learn it too, given enough time and the right course, or a Google search!

The truth is that the thing that makes you irreplaceable has nothing to do with your training, your prices or your location. Yes, those things matter a little, but they're NOT the crucial thing that helps a client choose you or that keeps clients coming back to you.

What keeps people coming back is something better! It's the specific, unrepeatable, impossible-to-copy version of you that you bring to every treatment. What I like to call your "Massage Magic".

Finding your Massage Magic

How do you find your massage magic? Massage therapists often struggle with this. We're a humble lot and don't like to "big ourselves up"! You might find yourself thinking - "I don't think I AM different! I just do massage like everyone else!"

Well, guess what? You ARE different - EVERYBODY is unique! You have different skills, experience, life experiences, beliefs and personality from everybody and anybody else. You DO have your own massage magic - the key is to be able to draw that out and communicate it!

So let's do that now.

The Big Four

Get yourself a notebook and brainstorm your answers to the following 4 questions. As you do, keep your ideal client in mind. ie., the specific kind of person you most love working with.

1. Your values and beliefs.

Why do you do this work? What do you believe about the human body, about healing, or well-being, and how does that manifest in your treatments?

Do you have strong feelings about diversity and inclusion? Do you run a low-waste, eco-conscious massage practice? It's absolutely ok to have a strong point of view! Don't be afraid to share that in your marketing.

2. Your personality.

Are you a talker or a listener? Are you calm and quiet, or warm and chatty? Your personality isn't separate from your work - it is part of your work, and it's something no one else can replicate. One massage therapist I mentored used the fact that he loved to chat as a big selling point. He got plenty of clients coming to him who didn't feel comfortable in a quiet massage room!

3. Your treatments.

Do you have a niche, a signature approach, or a specific type of client you tend to attract? Have you developed a particular blend of massage techniques that's become distinctly yours? Think too about the treatment room environment you create and the little things you add that make a massage treatment with you feel different from anyone else. (Careful not to say "I do a treatment bespoke to your individual needs"- Any good therapist should say that anyway, it's not unique!)

4. Your story.

How did you become a massage therapist, and why? What personal experiences have affected the way you work? A therapist in my mentoring programme used the fact that she spent fifteen years as a nurse before retraining, and that affects everything about how she understands a body and talks to someone in pain.

Others have used that they've personally been through whatever they help their idea clients with - chronic illness, burnout, or a difficult pregnancy - and that lived experience means their clients feel properly understood.

Once you've worked through these, look for the thread that runs through your answers. Look for the thing that's both properly yours and properly meaningful to the people you treat.

It can be any one of the above, or it can be a combination. The point is that it's the whole picture of who you are, what you've been through, and what you stand for. 

And no competitor has that combination, because nobody else is YOU!

How to use this

This only works if you take it out of your head and put it into your marketing. Knowing privately that you're different doesn't help anyone find you! So you need to work it out first and then make sure it's front and centre in your massage marketing. The goal is that the right clients - the ones who are perfect for you - see it clearly and think: ooh! That's who I need to see!

So find your thing and put it front and centre in your marketing. Don't be afraid to share your point of view, not just what massage modalities you do. Let your personality shine out on your website and on socials, instead of being that "professional-neutral" thing that massage therapists often seems to do.

The same goes for how you talk about what you do day-to-day - on social media, in emails, and in conversations. When your particular thing runs through all of it consistently, the message starts to sink in. The people who are right for you start to recognise you. And the issue of whether someone cheaper or newer opened nearby becomes really, honestly…uninteresting - because the people looking for you weren't going to book with them anyway!

Deeper, not wider

Often when massage therapists feel they're competing in their local area, their first instinct is to ADD things - maybe get another qualification or a new treatment - something that might make them look more impressive on a treatment list. If you've been feeling that, it's worth asking whether you're adding things because you honestly want to better help your clients, or because you're feeling the pressure to out-compete someone.

It's often more powerful instead of going wider, to go DEEPER. That means getting clearer on what really makes you different. Let it show up more visibly in your marketing for massage therapists.

So if there's one lesson I want you to learn, it's this: please stop measuring yourself against the competition and start measuring yourself against your own CLARITY. Are you getting better at articulating what makes you different? Are you talking about it consistently in your marketing?

When you can start to answer yes to those questions, I promise you, the whole worry about competition will just…disappear.

About the Author

Business mentor for massage therapists, Nikki Wolf has over 20 years in the industry, including teaching, owning a massage school, and managing spas. Nikki is on a mission to demystify marketing for therapists and empower them to build their own thriving businesses. When she isn't massaging or mentoring, she’ll be walking on the beach with her dog, Storm.Find out more about mentoring at Orchid Massage Academy.